[JRod85]

Wanted to see if anyone has ran across this before. I just got a ZX-5n and it will not take a SINGLE shot. You fire the shutter and the camera continues running in burst mode, even though the drive mode is set to single. You turn off the camera, but the camera keeps on going. I have to remove the batteries to kill it. Also noticed while writing this that the shutter is not actually firing, the mirror is just flapping up and down. Anybody have any insight as to the cause of trouble and anything I can look into to try repairing myself?

[JRod85]

Upon further investigation, it is clear that this is not an issue with the mirror motor gear (if it wasn't obvious to me by the fact that the mirror isn't stuck.) After opening things up, it was discovered that this camera already has the metal gear replacement. The problem is apparently shutter related. Watching it more, the shutter curtains do not move and the shutter remains in the fired position and refuses to re-cock, forcing the camera to constantly trigger the mirror. Sometimes, when I open the battery compartment to stop the camera, the shutter does seem to reset, but never actually fires when power is restored. It is unclear if this is a mechanical issue with the shutter as it sometimes moves, or if the system has an electrical short somewhere.

[violini]

When the bottom cover is removed, you can see the manufacturing date stamped on the metal plate. All the MZ/ZX series from 2002 have metal gear on the mirror motor shaft. Also the company changed the name to Pentax Corporation (from Asahi Opt.Co. Ltd.) in 2002. If your camera is a pre-2002 one, I would guess that whoever replaced the mirror motor didn't assemble the camera correctly. Please refer to the "mirror motor" threads " MZ5n mirror blocked, service manual?" post #62. There is a plastic arm (behind the yellow gear) extends from the gear box to the shutter block to trigger the shutter to fire. When the yellow gear is removed, you'll see two plastic levers, the one on the right is for setting the lens diaphragm, the one on the left which is extending down, is shutter charge lever. The two levers are connected by a very fine coil spring. Also mentioned in that post, the yellow and green gears are synchronized by mating the holes at the rims. The gear box cycle runs like this: when the shutter button is pressed, the mirror flips up, the aperture is set, the shutter fires, the mirror returns to 45 degree angle, the diaphragm opens up, the power is off. If it is any where in the middle of the cycle, the power is always on, which is not controlled by the external power switch. Therefore, I would suggest that you check the synchronization and the two levers behind the yellow gear.

[JRod85]

This is certainly a pre-2002 model, as it clearly states "Asahi Opt. Co. Ltd." on the bottom plate. I will investigate further and read deeper into that thread about that linkage. Thanks for the reply